PCJ – Chapter 70 The Efficacy of the Safety Talisman

“Zhang Jiaohua, has something like this ever happened in Meizi Village before?” Gong Ziyuan asked.

“Not that I know of.” Zhang Jiaohua shook his head. After all, he couldn’t recall any such incidents, but how many years’ worth of memories did he have?

Zhang Jiaohua took out a crumpled five-yuan bill from his pocket and handed it to Teacher Gong. “Teacher Gong, here’s your money back.”

Gong Ziyuan was puzzled for a moment before realizing that this five yuan was the money he gave Zhang Jiaohua yesterday.

“What’s wrong? You gave me the safety talisman, so it’s only fair that I return the money.” Gong Ziyuan smiled.

Zhang Jiaohua shook his head. “My parents said I shouldn’t take money from teachers.”

Gong Ziyuan smiled again, understanding that Zhang Jiaohua was speaking on behalf of his parents and not necessarily expressing his own opinion. “But teachers shouldn’t just take things from students either. Since it’s done, there’s no turning back.”

Gong Ziyuan didn’t feel right about taking back the money he had given Zhang Jiaohua, even if he had a fleeting thought about it. “No need, no need. Keep it for yourself. Zhang Jiaohua, do you think your safety talisman can drive away snakes?”

Zhang Jiaohua shook his head. “I don’t know. Teacher Gong, if my dad asks you, please tell him it was you who refused to take the money back.”

Zhang Jiaohua quickly stuffed the five yuan back into his pocket, feeling elated about earning his first bit of income. How could he give it up so easily?

Seeing Zhang Jiaohua’s amusing behavior, Gong Ziyuan almost couldn’t help but laugh.

“Teacher, there’s nothing else for me here. I’ll go home now.” Zhang Jiaohua happily went home.

After Zhang Jiaohua left, Gong Ziyuan sat in the room for a while, pondering. He took out the safety talisman from under his pillow and muttered to himself, “Could this safety talisman be effective?”

Gong Ziyuan decided to conduct an experiment. He put the safety talisman in his pocket and left the room.

“Teacher Gong, since the school is closed today, why don’t you come to my house later? I need to report to the education district and see how we can resolve this issue. You should stay at my place for a few days. It’s not safe to be alone at school.” Ma Lisong suggested to Gong Ziyuan.

“Principal Ma, there’s no rush. Snakes are everywhere in your village, right? It’s the same wherever I go. There were no snakes in my room last night. I should be fine. This snake invasion at school should just be temporary. After this passes, everything should be back to normal.” Gong Ziyuan also wanted to test the efficacy of the safety talisman.

“Alright, just be careful. If it doesn’t work out, come to my house.” Ma Lisong didn’t insist. For now, it seemed that most of the snakes were harmless, and they didn’t actively attack people.

After Ma Lisong left to report to the education district, Meizi Village Elementary School suddenly became empty, with only Gong Ziyuan left.

Gong Ziyuan pushed open the door of the first-grade classroom and saw snakes everywhere—on the floor, on the desks, on the windows, on the walls… everywhere. The snakes didn’t react at all when Gong Ziyuan entered; they just continued to move slowly in place.

Summoning his courage, Gong Ziyuan used a stick to move a black-headed snake on the podium aside. The snake didn’t escape but continued to crawl slowly on the ground. Gong Ziyuan quickly placed the safety talisman on the podium and pressed it down with a box of chalk. Without waiting to see what happened next, he rushed out of the classroom and ran to the open playground, gasping for breath. The action he just took was probably the most reckless thing he had ever done in his life.

There was no sound in the classroom, and Gong Ziyuan didn’t know if the safety talisman had worked or not. He decided to go back to the room to sit for a while and then check on the classroom. Since the room’s door was open, he didn’t have any defenses and entered directly.

But what he saw in the room made Gong Ziyuan quickly retreat! A snake! A thumb-thick black-headed snake fell from the corner of the room directly onto Gong Ziyuan’s bed.

“Oh my god! This is life-threatening!” Gong Ziyuan’s scalp tingled, and his spine went cold.

Gong Ziyuan suddenly remembered that he had just taken out the safety talisman from under the pillow, and now a snake had entered the room. “Could it be that Zhang Jiaohua’s safety talisman really works? The rumors about Zhang Jiaohua in the class… could they be true?”

Gong Ziyuan wanted to go back to the classroom to see what had happened. He picked up the stick from the ground and cautiously looked into the classroom.

Strange! The snakes that were scattered all over the classroom just now were nowhere to be seen. The desks, the floor, the windows, the walls… were all empty.

“The safety talisman really works!” Gong Ziyuan quickly picked up the safety talisman from the podium and ran back to the room. He had to put the safety talisman back under his pillow quickly. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have anywhere to sleep tonight.

When Gong Ziyuan returned to the room, there was another snake in the room, and he could hear a rustling sound from the ceiling.

Gong Ziyuan didn’t have time to think about it. He quickly put the safety talisman under his pillow and ran out of the room, closing the door behind him. He couldn’t care less about what happened in the room. He just needed to leave. Gong Ziyuan decided to go to Zhang Jiaohua’s house to ask for, no, to buy a few more safety talismans. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to go to the school cafeteria. The cafeteria must have been occupied by snakes too.

Since all the kids in the village had gone home, Zhang Jiaohua went home early, which was not surprising to Zhang Youping and Liu Qiaoye.

“Son, except for our house, almost every household in the village has snakes. Stay at home and don’t go out. I don’t know what’s going on. Snakes shouldn’t be causing trouble at this time of year.” Zhang Youping had just returned from the old house. Many snakes had entered the old house, and Zhang Youping helped his parents drive them all out before returning home.

“Dad, did you know? There were no snakes in Teacher Gong’s room today either.” Zhang Jiaohua was already beginning to suspect that his safety talisman was working.

“Really? That’s good. Teacher Gong is from the city. He must have never seen anything like this before. If he gets scared, he probably won’t dare to teach you guys anymore. Oh, did you return the five yuan to Teacher Gong?” Zhang Youping mentioned the five yuan, making Zhang Jiaohua regret bringing up Teacher Gong again.

“I did, but Teacher Gong wouldn’t take it back. Dad, do you think it’s because of the safety talisman that there were no snakes in our house and Teacher Gong’s office?” Zhang Jiaohua immediately changed the subject.

“Hmm.” Zhang Youping pondered for a moment, then excitedly said, “Son, regardless of whether it’s because of the safety talisman, you should draw a few more. I’ll take them to the old house later.”

“Okay.” Zhang Jiaohua was also excited. Children, when they suddenly realize they can make such a big difference, tend to get very excited.